When a show embarks on a national tour, audiences across the country come to the theater expecting the same production that graced a Broadway stage. Shows often have slight alterations to accommodate different venues or new casts, but with the hit show “Newsies,” audiences now have an entirely new song to enjoy. Composer Alan Menken and lyricist Jack Feldmen gave their loveable character Crutchie a new song to perform while on tour

In the original Broadway production, Crutchie, a frail 15-year old boy, is arrested at a protest of the newspaper’s increased cost at the end of the first act. He is carted off to the Refuge, a children’s jail, where he remains unseen for the remainder of the show. In this production, Crutchie is absent until the victory of the Newsies — the protesting newsboys — over the capitalist newspaper moguls. When the show went on tour, it was decided that Crutchie should be more present in the show, and thus, “Letter from the Refuge” was born.

The scene is placed in between the “King of New York” and the reprise of “Watch What Happens” of Act II. In between the frenzy and excitement of the protest, the stage goes dark and a set of bunk beds is pushed forward. Crutchie sits on the top bunk, writing a letter to his friend and fellow protester, Jack.

He begins with apologizing for getting himself arrested and describes his dismal situation: the warden, Warden Snyder, beat him with his own crutch. But true to the character’s optimistic nature, Crutchie goes on to assure Jack that he is indeed fine. Crutchie wistfully imagines his escape plan, quixotically stretching his escape into an image of living in Jack and the Newsboys’ imagined penthouse, where they are free, successful and happy. The song concludes with Crutchie asking Jack and the rest of the boys to keep fighting without him.

On a more historical note, it’s the first time the audience is given an actual depiction of life inside juvenile detention centers of 19th century New York. Up until this point, the audience has only been given comments in passing about what the Refuge is, but this song gives a physical look into conditions of children’s prisons. In the song, Crutchie explains the desperate circumstances: how the children receive no food and how cruel the wardens are to them.

Fitting a new song into an already-completed show takes masterful planning. Aside from this extra scene, nothing significant from the show has changed. Ultimately, the song is a wonderful vehicle for Crutchie’s character and for the audience’s ability to get an insight into conditions of the Refuge. Despite the additional emotional layer, however, the song still feels like a footnote in the production as a whole. The show moves on as planned with only a minuscule change to minor lines.

Despite currently feeling like more of afterthought, “Letter from the Refuge” has the potential to fit into the story with a punch, should “Newsies” return to Broadway.

Email Emma Muto Gordon at [email protected].